The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers

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All Rise...

Judge Mike Rubino has heard great things about the Pentagon's paper airplanes.

The Charge

"This is an attack on the whole integrity of government. If whole file
cabinets can be stolen and then made available to the press, you can't have
orderly government anymore."—Henry Kissinger

Opening Statement

The filing cabinets of the United States government hold some pretty hefty
secrets about economics, technology, and war (and probably aliens or something).
So one would assume that folks with access to those secrets would need to be
pretty tight-lipped about them, even if they disagreed with their findings.

What if someone with access to those secrets decided to use them against his
government to stop a war he didn't believe in? That just might make him The
Most Dangerous Man in America.

Facts of the Case

Daniel Ellsberg was at one time a leading figure behind the buildup to the
Vietnam War. He worked closely with President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara in the conflict's early stages, and soon went to Vietnam
himself as an ambassador.

Then something changed. While in Vietnam, Ellsberg determined that the war
was a stalemate. Upon his return, a top-secret 7,000 page report was created by
the Pentagon, chronicling the war's history. Ellsberg soon discovered that the
previous four presidents had been secretly involved in the region. While he was
never quite on board with the war in the first place, Ellsberg suddenly wanted
this thing to end. With newly-elected President Nixon showing no signs of living
up to his campaign promise of an honorable conclusion, Ellsberg took matters
into his own hands: he leaked the report to the press.

The Evidence

There have been a lot of documentaries, films, and TV specials on the Vietnam
War. I haven't seen them all. So The Most Dangerous Man in America may
not be as surprising to others as it was to me. The documentary, narrated by
Daniel Ellsberg himself, is a political thriller about a Pentagon insider who
used his security clearance to try and stop the very war he helped start. It's
an absorbing film that, while not perfect, presents an insider's view of a
controversial war.

Ellsberg begins the film as a hawkish strategist and RAND employee, but
after visiting Vietnam and attending some peace rallies, his moral objections to
the conflict begin to take hold. At times his narration and on-camera interviews
can be stirring, other times things feel slightly melodramatic—especially
with the film's constant use of faceless re-enactments. The historical
significance of the events, and the interviews and news footage incorporated
with the story, give the film Herculean weight, regardless of your feelings
about the war itself. This man took matters into his own hands and changed
history.

Aside from key interviews from Ellsberg, his wife Patricia, his cohort Tony
Russo, and countless other politicians, agents, and reporters, The Most
Dangerous Man also features extensive audio recordings from Nixon's White
House. True to his Futurama persona,
Nixon comes off as a crazy man, ordering the shut-down of various newspapers and
discussing nuclear options with Kissinger. Every president, from Truman to
Johnson, is painted as a villain, but Nixon is the one most affected and
involved with the leak of the Pentagon Papers.

The documentary, which was nominated for an Academy Award, does have a few
flaws. Particularly, the filmmakers' insistence on using crude animation to
dramatize various events. The History Channel-style reenactments seem like a
stretch for a big time documentary, but cheap Flash animation and corny sound
effects really squandered some intense moments. Regardless, the history
presented here is intriguing enough to survive any odd choices by directors
Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith.

The DVD is a mixed bag so far as the video transfer is concerned. The
historical footage and photography are stunning, but the interviews and
re-enactments have a low-budget, digital feel to them. The war footage is
especially startling, and all of it—aside from those previously mentioned
animated segments—is treated with utmost seriousness. The disc also
features two promotional interviews with Woody Harrelson and Naomi Wolf, and a
whole slew of audio clips from Nixon's White House tapes. The Nixon clips are a
nice touch, except that they require an annoying amount of menu navigation to
get to them all.

Closing Statement

The Most Dangerous Man in America is a real-life political thriller
that never strays too far from the personal element of Daniel Ellsberg, despite
its heavy historical significance. It may have a few missteps, production-wise,
but remains a compelling story about one man's fight against war, the Pentagon,
and a very grumpy president.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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